With These Broken Wings, I'm Falling
by Agent Malkere
Summary: What if Robin was never saved from his apprenticeship to Slade and Terra never left the Titans? AU.
1. A Bird's Broken Wings

With These Broken Wings I'm Falling

_**With These Broken Wings I'm Falling **_

_Agent Malkere_

**Disclaimer: No, it is not mine. If I owned the Teen Titans, do you really think I'd be writing fan fiction? **

The only good thing about the uniform was that it blended in better with the mud and shadows than red and green.

In the shallow depression underneath of the huge fallen tree, Robin lay flat on his stomach entire body screaming in agony as he watched for his hunters, frigid rain water beginning to pool on the muddy surface of the earth around him. Mud and blood were smeared across his face and a long gash across his forehead was oozing red that was soaking into the edge of his badly torn mask. He felt a single rebellious tear squeeze from the corner of his eye. It had been four months. Four months since she had arrived and they had stopped holding back any restraint during battles. Four months since he had uttered a single sound for any reason. Four months since his friends had given up all hope on him.

Robin couldn't blame them for giving up, it had been nearly a year since Slade had forced the former boy wonder into becoming his apprentice, but deep inside part of the former Titan wanted to blame them. Blame them for never considering that he hadn't changed sides of his own will. He couldn't, though, he wouldn't. They may have given up on him, but Robin would never give up on them. That was the only reason he hadn't killed himself yet because as long as he was alive he was still able to protect them somewhat. Instead of the nearly fatal injuries they would have receive fighting Slade, Robin left them with only bumps and bruises and maybe a scratch or two. He watched them from afar as Cyborg took the role of leader and Beast Boy and Raven's relationship slowly began to change into something more and Starfire became more adept at the culinary arts with earth foods. And he watched them take in a new member.

Terra was a blonde haired geokenetic who came to the team with very little control over her powers but was now, after much training, quite adept with them and was improving almost every time Robin faced her. None of the others had ever mentioned their past with Robin to her or that he had once been a Teen Titan, had once been their leader even, and not always the criminal Icarus, as Slade had soon renamed his young, unwilling student. And because she had no way of knowing otherwise Terra saw Slade's black haired apprentice as nothing more than a villain. Robin saw her as someone who, perhaps under different circumstances, might have been a friend and possibly the one hope he had left because she, Terra, alone out of the remaining Teen Titans was not infested with Slade's nano-bots. Her death was not yet just the press of a button away. He hoped that somehow, somehow he might use this fact to save his friends. Robin had already forced himself to accept that it was long since too late to save him and their lives were all that mattered to him now anyway.

The badly beaten boy's eyes widened and he flattened himself even farther against the ground, trembling slightly, as he caught sight of a pair of feet approaching out of the corner of his eye. That was another secret that nobody knew or had realized, not even Slade. After so many months of being forced to fight against his friends, Robin, once the seemly fearless leader of the Teen Titans, was now terrified of them. Not even his hated master could instill as much fear in him as they did now. He still fought for their lives, still secretly loved Starfire very deeply, but if one of them would have tried to even touch him now, no matter how non-aggressive their manner, Robin would have shied away like a frightened wild animal despite his longing for a kind word or a gentle touch. It was as though he was actually beginning to morph into a feral creature, flighty, silent, and distrusting, and, though Slade had hoped for a great many different out comes when he had forced Robin to become his apprentice, this was not one of them. He had intended to break Robin's will but not to silence him completely. No, for once, this had never been in the villain's plans and a little over a month ago Slade had given up trying to get Robin to speak. It was pointless and, Slade had reasoned finally when the frustration became too much for even him, unnecessary. 'Icarus' did not need to speak, only obey commands.

Robin held his breath as the feet stopped directly in front of his hiding place and his body began to shake more violently, both from fear and from his preparation to leap should the need arise.

"Come out, Icarus!" Robin cringed as he heard Terra's voice use the name Slade had given him. Even his friends called him that now and it hurt more than everything else. He knew his Greek mythology, knew that Icarus had been the boy who had flown too close to the sun only to have his wings broken, like Robin had. Well, the wax of Icarus's wings had melted really but Robin preferred to think of it as broken. Irony was a cruel thing. "I can sense where you've disturbed the earth so you can either come out on your own and surrender or we can do things my way."

Body tense, Robin lay perfectly still, hoping to call her bluff. Unfortunately it turned out the blonde geokenetic _wasn't_ bluffing. In a great surge of earth, the tree Robin had been hiding under was tossed aside like a twig leaving the bruised and bloodied teenager beneath exposed once more to the elements and the icy rain. His body froze for a moment before instincts and reflexes took over and he lunged at the girl in front of him. Terra was already ready and waiting for his attack, though, and he narrowly managed to dodge a chunk of rock that had been aimed at his head. It still managed to clip him as it sailed by though and as a little blood began to trickle down his jaw he heard something crunch and suddenly the sound of static assaulted his ears. Eyes widening, mouth slightly agape, he slowly reached up and removed his now broke ear piece, the corners of his mouth twitching ever so slightly in what was now his equivalent of a wide triumphant grin. His constant connection to Slade was broken, gone. After so many hopeless months, he was finally being given the opportunity to remove his friends' lives from danger.

With a sudden burst of strength and hope, Robin sprang forward, pinning Terra against a tree, and opening his mouth to at last break his four month long continuous silence.

--

_A/N: Thanks for reading! Any feed back you have I'd be happy to hear! I think I spelled 'Icarrus' wrong… two Cs, maybe?_


	2. The Message

Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

Terra had paused in her assault when she had seen the look on Icarus's face as he slowly removed his broken ear piece. He had appeared stunned and was that… the slightest bit happy and …relieved? But the blonde instantly regretted letting her guard down as Slade's apprentice sprang forward without any warning in a blur of motion too quick for Terra to defend herself in any way and she soon found herself with her back pinned against a tree. As she struggled to get free of the other teenager's grip Terra bumped the record button on her communicator. She'd actually been aiming for the call button but at least this way the others would have some idea of what happened to her if they found her dead in a puddle hours later. Not that she was intending to let that happen, but just in case.

"Not going to… hurt you." Terra blinked, shock and surprise making her go limp in Icarus's grasp. Slowly she turned her head until she had locked gazes with her masked foe. Never once in all of her battles with Icarus had she ever heard him utter a sound, not even the smallest cry of pain. Whatever he was about to say to her, she had the distinct feeling that it would be very important and worth listening to since he had never struck her as the type of villain who monolog-ed before he killed someone. Each word sounded awkward, disjointed, and forced, as though he hadn't spoken in a long time and he couldn't quite remember how. Taking a deep breath and opening his mouth Terra watched as Icarus began to speak again. "Nano-bots…. Tell Cy… nano-bots… in their bloodstreams… but not yours…. From Slade… that's what the… red shots were… tell them that's what the decoys were…. Tell Cy that Robin told him… to look for nano-bots. Understand?"

A blank stare of confusion and a nod were Terra's only response to Icarus's words.

"Good." The geokenetic caught another brief flash of relief on the apprentice's face before, as quickly as he had tackled her before, he was gone again, darting away through the trees but this time Terra made no attempt to follow him, just watched him go. Slowly she reached down to her belt and hit the record button again before beginning to call the others. But even before her finger reached the call button Cyborg's face appeared on the small screen after the familiar eight tone ring.

"Titans, regroup. We're heading back to the Tower."

"Alright, see you in a minute," she responded without her usual vibrato in her voice. Her mind was a wash with a myriad of questions. What were nano-bots? Why would they be in her fellow Titans' bloodstreams but not hers? Why did Icarus even care? Did he care? Was this a trap? Should she really tell the others? What decoy involving 'red beams' was Icarus talking about? Why did he call Cyborg 'Cy' like they were friends? Who was Robin...?

Not a word was spoken by any of the Titans as they trudged back to the T-car and from there drove back to the Tower the drenching rain beating a steady rhythm on the roof of the car as it had continuously been doing for nearly the last three hours. Silence only ever reigned among the teenagers after a run-in with Icarus and suddenly Terra wondered why. Why did they all always seem so depressed when they saw Slade's black haired apprentice and why would they never talk to her about it? As the group slouched into the Titan Tower's common room the quiet finally became too much for the normally cheerful girl and the question burst out of her mouth before she could stop it.

"Who's Robin?" Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven froze and Cyborg spun around to face her, eyes wide. In the background several objects in the room were encased in black power and exploded as actual, visible emotion flickered across Raven's face, Star suddenly looked like she was about to burst into tears, and Beast Boy's shoulder's slumped as he stared fixatedly at the ground, while Cy's hands clenched into fists.

"Where'd you hear that name?" demanded Cyborg, a little harshly. Terra was taken aback. She'd never heard him use that tone of voice before and it scared her slightly. Frowning, Terra pulled the communicator off of her belt and holding up so that all of the others would be able to hear it pressed the play back button.

"_Not going to… hurt you._" Terra heard Starfire let out a gasp as the alien girl covered her mouth with one hand at the sound of the voice and BB's head snapped up so fast Terra thought he might give himself whiplash. "_Nano-bots…. Tell Cy… nano-bots… in their bloodstreams… but not yours…. From Slade… that's what the… red shots were… tell them that's what the decoys were…. Tell Cy that Robin told him… to look for nano-bots. Understand? …Good._"

Dead silence hung in the air as the recording finished. Actual tears were running down Star's face now and Beast Boy had a comforting arm around Raven's shoulders. The empathic sorceress looked like she was about to be sick. Cy finally broke the silence, looking rather ill himself, the geokenetic noted.

"Tha- That was Icarus …right?"

"Yeah," Terra nodded, feeling a little uncomfortable from their reactions. She most certainly hadn't been anticipating this. "I found Icarus when we were looking for him in the forest and one of my rocks broke his headset earphone thing. He got this really weird almost happy look on his face all of a sudden and then he tackled me and I hit record instead of call and he started talking to me. You called me right after he left and I've been trying to figure how and when to tell you guys about it ever since."

"I _knew_ friend Robin would not just abandon us!" Star cried seemly, to Terra anyway, out of nowhere. With a heavy sigh, Cyborg tried to calm the alien princess before things could get out of hand.

"Don't get your hopes too high just yet, Star. I've still got a lot of tests to run before we can be sure that there's any actual proof behind all of this."

"This could explain why I've never sensed any malice from him all of the times we've fought him… only fear." Even Raven's normal monotone sounded more hopeful than usual. BB's previously drooping ears pricked up and his eyes got a bit more shine to them.

"You really think so, Rae?" The empath didn't even bat an eyelash at the nickname; usually she batted Beast Boy across the room just for using it. Terra was feeling more unnerved by the minute.

"Yes, I think it might be a possibility."

"Dude! That means he didn't backstab us and it really _was_ a conspiracy/mind control thingy, just like I said in the first place."

"Beast Boy, I highly doubt that this has anything to do with the brainwashing techniques of aliens from the planet Zorb." Now _that_ lovely dose of cynicism sounded more like the Raven Terra knew.

"I do not understand. Only flesh hunting plants are native to the planet Zorb – why would they want to do the washing of the brain to friend Robin? Would they not be more interested in eating him than attempting to assure that his brain is clean?" Everyone in the room except for Starfire simultaneously sweatdropped.

"Okay, med lab, you three – now! We can finish this discussion while I'm running tests!" Cyborg stated firmly as he hustled the other three original Titans towards the elevator.

"Wait a minute!" Terra called after them. "You never answered my question. Who's Robin?"

Cyborg paused, thought for a moment, and then said quietly, "You know those boxes downstairs that I told you not to touch?"

"Yeah."

"Go have a look through them… and at that room in the abandoned hall…. We'll explain more later. I'll let you know the results as soon as I get them."

"'Kay."


	3. Scrapbooks and Camcorders

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far

_A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! I luf y'all! Please stand by for a LONG author's note! _

_As for the question that a lot of you asked – why the heck doesn't Terra know about Robin – well… Robin's disappearance didn't make national news or anything and by the time Terra showed up in Jump City the press had kinda figured out that Robin was a Taboo subject with the Titans. Plus, by that point Rob had been AWOHL for nearly eight months and nothing new had come to light so the press got bored. But the main reason is that I wanted Terra to get to 'discover' Robin. Yeah, all hail artistic license! _

_For those of you who were skeptical as to Robin having more or less emotionally broken down, think of like this: The only reason he really has left for living is to protect his friends and said friends a) believe that he stabbed them in the back and became a villain and b) beat him to a pulp now on a regular basis. How would YOUR mental health be doing after nearly a year of this plus being forced to go against everything you ever believed in? _

_Okay – at last, on with the story! (Warning: This chapter and the next contain more or less NO action) _

--

Terra had only ever ventured down to the basement a few times before and all of those times she had been with at least one of the others. Coming down on her own made her feel a bit like an intruder. The boxes Cyborg had been referring to were tucked far back in the shadowy alcove under the stairs and were hard to spot unless you were looking for them. Carefully pulling out the two mysterious cardboard boxes, Terra stared at them curiously for a minute before hesitantly opening the first one. It contained what looked like three scrapbooks each with a year written on the cover underneath of the words 'Teen Titans.' Terra selected the oldest book and pulled it out, allowing the volume to fall open in her lap.

The first page the book opened to had several pictures on it and four different styles of handwriting, only three of which the blonde recognized. In the upper left hand corner in a small, tight hand – the one that Terra hadn't seen before – someone had written "Star and her mustard" under a picture of the orange skinned alien girl happily sitting on a picnic blanket sucking away on a bottle of her favorite yellow condiment with a straw. Terra laughed before looking at the next picture. Starfire certain did love her mustard. The next picture had Cyborg's large, block-like lettering which seemed to be stuck in permanent cap-locks beneath it. It showed Raven, who was still dripping wet from a shower, clutching a blue bathrobe around her body her face livid as she stood next to the common room couch, a small puddle of water beginning to collect at her feet. Her right hand was held out in front of her in a clawing motion and her hair, the obvious reason for her displeasure, was a violent shade of magenta. Beast Boy could be seen mid-smash through one of the giant windows, a fist of black magic propelling him forward while Starfire stood in the background looking confused. The caption underneath the picture said, "The results of BB's April Fools prank on Raven." The last picture on the page had Star's looping script next to it and said, "Beast Boy and Cyborg play the fools of April trick on friend Robin." BB and Cy were doubled over with laughter as a third person hung upside down in between by one foot, a loop of rope around his ankle. The person wore green leggings, a red shirt with short green sleeves, green gloves that stretched nearly all the way to his elbows, black boots with dangerous looking metal soles, and a yellow utility belt. The yellow inside lining of a cape hung down obscuring the person's head from view, though, by his body position, Terra guessed that he was giving the half robot and shape shifter a death glare and/or was yelling at them. The over all bright colors of his uniform reminded Terra strongly of a stoplight. In the margin "I told ya we'd get ya, dude!" was written in, in Beast Boy's chicken scratch scrawl.

Terra scrutinized the picture closely, trying to pick up as much about the mysterious 'Robin' as she could from the one shot. Did this mean he had been a Teen Titan? From his appearance alone the geokenetic couldn't pick up what his powers might have been but he seemed to be well muscled though maybe a bit on the short side. In fact, his overall build reminded her of someone but she couldn't quite think of whom.

In one smooth motion, the blonde girl flipped back to the very first page of the scrapbook and stared in surprise at the large group photo it housed. This time the Teen Titans were depicted in their normal 'v' attack pattern and the quality of the photograph suggested that it had been taken by a professional. The first thing that struck her as odd was that Cyborg wasn't in his normal point position that he always took as leader of the group but instead stood one back to the left of point in front of Raven, grinning, one arm formed into his familiar sonic cannon in Terra's normal place in the attack formation. In the point position stood a boy whom the geokenetic guessed was Robin based on his brightly colored uniform. He had black hair that was gelled into spikes and a black and white half mask covered his eyes. His feet were about shoulder width apart, arms crossed across his chest, and there was a confident smile on his face. An unseen breeze was causing his yellow-lined black cape to billow slightly in a very impressive manner. The eye mask and hair suddenly reminded her of Icarus, Slade's apprentice, but she shook off the impression. Icarus was a villain and fought the Titans on a regular basis, Robin was obviously a valued member of the group – or had been anyway – maybe even the leader. She wondered why he had fallen out with the others.

Putting down the scrapbook for a moment, Terra glanced at the other box, wondering what was in it. More scrapbooks or photograph albums, maybe? Dragging it closer she unfolded the top four flaps and was surprised to find a number of video tapes and a camcorder sitting in the bottom. Grabbing a tape at random, the blonde placed it in the video camera and flicked open the viewing panel on the side before pressing play.

Beast Boy's face appeared on the small screen a mischievous grin on his face. "_Today on 'Beast Boy Presents' you are going to witness something that no one outside of the Tower has ever seen and lived to tell the tale of before! You, my loyal viewers, are going to witness Robin, boy wonder of Gotham and leader of the Teen Titans, in one of his _moods_._" BB stepped out off the camera's view and it began to move down the hall towards what Terra recognized as the gym. Faintly, she could hear what sounded like somebody having it out with the punching bag. The camera slowly approached the open gym door and then peeked around the corner. On the far side of the exercise room the figure Terra was now starting to identify as Robin was attacking the poor punching bag in an amazing flurry of punches and kicks that made Terra wonder what the punching bag had ever done to him. This went on for about two minutes until Robin hit it with one last mighty roundhouse kick and sent the bag flying into the far wall with a thud. Finally the boy wonder stood still, staring at the punching bag, breathing hard. Suddenly he glanced over his shoulder and looked directly into the camera lens watching him from the doorway.

"_Beast Boy, what do you think you're doing?_" Terra heard BB let out a quiet 'eep!' in the background and the shot cut off. There was black for a moment and then Beast Boy's face appeared on the screen once again. He was breathing rather heavily but other than that looking none the worse for wear.

"_Next on today's program we continue our aviary theme –_"

"_Hey, BB!_" Cy's voice interrupted in the background. "_Since when do you even know what 'aviary' means?_"

Beast Boy glowered to his right at the unseen Cyborg. "_Dude! Quit interrupting! Animal Planet had a special on birds, okay?_" The green changeling turned his attention back to the camcorder, though a hint of the ticked off expression still lingered on his face. "_As I saying before I was so_ rudely interrupted_, to continue with our aviary Titans theme for today we shall attempt to answer the long standing question – what is Raven _actually_ reading?_"

"_BB, man, you've got a serious death wish today, haven't you?_"

"_Shut up, dude!_"

"_You two do realize that I can hear every word you're saying,_" Raven's normal monotone asked but with a slightly irritated edge to it. On screen, BB froze, a guilty grin on his face which was quickly replaced by a nervous one as Raven continued. "_If you so much as come within ten feet of me with that camera I will feel no qualms about throwing you out of the window again._"

"_On second thought, on today's program we're going to be answering a _different_ mystery of the ages… just as soon as I can think of one…._"

"_Friend Beast Boy? Friend Robin wishes to know where you are so that he can do the skewering of you with his bo staff!_"

The short changeling's face went incredibly pale and he gulped audibly.

"_Oh shoot! Well, that concludes today's program, folks! Until then, this is Beast Boy saying, dude, I _really_ hope I can out run Robin!_" The small screen went blank again.

Terra grinned and laughed to herself before reaching for another tape. Something about Robin's voice rubbed at the edge of her mind but Terra couldn't quite put her finger on what it was so she ignored it for the moment and inserted the next tape.


	4. Videos Tapes and Newspaper Articles

Terra grinned and laughed to herself before reaching for another tape

_A/N: Sorry for the wait! In the chapter after this it'll finally get back to what Robin and the others are up to!_

Terra grinned and laughed to herself before reaching for another tape. Something about Robin's voice rubbed at the edge of her mind but Terra couldn't quite put her finger on what it was so she ignored it for the moment and inserted the next tape.

"_Today, on this extremely special episode of 'Beast Boy Presents,'_" the green changeling's voice whispered so quietly that the geokenetic had to turn up the volume to even make out what he was saying. The camera lens was focused on the door of the third floor bathroom, "_We will be attempting to do something no one has _ever_ done before – not even Starfire – and that is… to see what Robin looks like… _without the mask_!!_" The camera slowly edged forward and Beast Boy's gloved hand reached out to grasp the door knob. There was a tense moment of pause and then the camera suddenly lunged forward, bursting through the door into the steam filled bathroom. Robin, who only had a white towel wrapped around his waist, yelped and spun around. The eye mask he had always been wearing before was noticeably absent and, as his large gray eyes widened in shock at the sight of the camera and Beast Boy, Terra thought that he looked younger without the mask, almost innocent. The geokenetic only had a few moments to contemplate this, however, because almost instantly Robin was lunging for the camcorder, one hand still clutching the edges of his towel.

"_BEAST BOY!!_"

The shot promptly cut off, only to be replaced by another – this time a dim picture of what looked like the carpeting in one of the T-Tower's hallways late at night. A soft, familiar voice began to speak, but it wasn't Beast Boy's.

"_We would like to apologize. Due to technical difficulties, 'Beast Boy Presents' will not be airing tonight at its usual time. Instead, in its place, shall be,_" the camera was spun around to face its operator and Terra was given a sudden, extreme close-up of a black and white eye mask, "_'Robin's Revenge!'_"

The camcorder turned back around to reveal that Robin was standing in front of Beast Boy's bedroom door. Sliding the door open noiselessly, Robin drifted as silent as a shadow across the debris littered floor to the side of BB's bunk bed. The green changeling was curled up beneath his covers, long, pointed ears twitching ever so slightly in his sleep, a pillow cuddled protectively against his chest. As Terra watched, Beast Boy tightened his grip on the pillow burrowing his face into it slightly and the tips of his ears began to twitch more noticeably as he began to mumble to himself in his sleep.

"_Sorry ladies, there's only one girl for me… She's right here… No, no – not Star… Not Bee… Jinx? Ew! …Hey… Hey, Rae – where ya goin'? …No, it's not like that… Stay? Please? …Aw, Rae, you're the only girl for me… You know that… I love you, too, Raven…._" The camera slowly began to edge back from the bed as BB tried to kiss his pillow in his sleep and caught a fang in the fabric. In the background, Robin could be heard attempting to stifle his snickering with little success.

Back out in the hall Robin turned the camera back on himself though not at the extremely close range that he had used before. "_And there you have it folks – Beast Boy, the Tower's resident trickster and clown, is head-over-heels for Raven, everyone's favorite dark and gloomy Goth. The world just keeps getting weirder and weirder every day._"

With the press of a button, Terra turned off the camcorder and set it down on the floor next to her. She stared blankly at the far wall of the basement for a moment, lost in thought. Why did Robin sound so familiar? Had she met him before? Surely she would have remembered a uniform like that…. Still lost in thought, Terra reached one-handed into the first box to retrieve another scrapbook, hoping it might be able to answer some of the questions barraging her. She blinked in surprise as her gloved fingers came into contact not with the hard edge of a book, but the crinkle of newsprint. Peering over the lip of the box, the geokenetic spotted the corner of a stack of newspapers sticking out from under the bottommost scrapbook. Intrigued, Terra pulled them carefully out and stared at the headline of the first paper: _**Boy Wonder Missing in Action**_.

_Jump City's famous Teen Titans were noticeably one member short today as they fought to stop another prison break at the local jail. Robin, leader of the Titans, was absent from the skirmish and has been missing since last Wednesday night. Details are still unclear but it seems that the Boy Wonder disappeared after being separated from his teammates during another attack by the infamous master villain, Slade. Since his mysterious vanishing, Robin has made no contact with his team and experts are uncertain whether he is even still alive. There is speculation that the goal of Slade's most resent attack was to take out Robin in particular. The Teen Titans have made no comment on whether they believe their leader still alive or dead…._

Terra stopped reading, her stomach twisting unpleasantly. She glanced at the photograph directly underneath the headline. It showed Robin crouched on the edge of a rooftop, bo staff extended in one hand the fingertips of the other resting lightly on the concrete, preparing to spring out into the night sky, his black cape snapping out behind him in a brisk breeze. The caption read: "_Last picture taken before Robin's disappearance_." The geokenetic bit her lip. Slade, it was always Slade. How much pain had he caused the Titans over the years? How much grief? Him and his bloody apprent-

The first paper slid down to reveal the headline of the second, which was dated about two weeks later: _**A New Criminal Makes his Appearance**_. Without even glancing at the article, Terra stared at the large, color picture taking up a fair portion of the page in horrified fascination. It was Robin – she was sure of it! The boy in the picture was slightly silhouetted against the dark background sky, making it hard to discern specific features, but he was crouched in almost the exact same position as the last picture, bo staff once again in hand. He had the same body type, same muscling, same spiky black hair, and Terra could just make out the black eye mask obscuring the upper half of his face from view. But there was something off about the boy wonder's appearance, too. He wasn't wearing a cape; his once brightly colored uniform was now almost completely black; light reflected slightly off of metal shin guards and a collar that covered his neck and shoulders… And he was facing off against Beast Boy and Raven. Terra felt a vice begin to crush the air out of her lungs as her stomach continued to tie itself into hangman's knots. Beast Boy was in the form of a green Siberian tiger, lips pulled back in a snarl to show long fangs, one massive paw raised, claws extended, muscles bunched as he, too, prepared to spring. Raven was just in front and to the left of the green changeling. Her eyes glowed white with power in the deep shadow of her hood and her hands were raised, a defensive shield of black energy still in front of her as though she had just fended off an attack.

Terra peered closer at the picture, still not daring to read the article beside it. Wait a minute – she knew that uniform. It was… _Icarus'_ uniform…. Oh, _god_….


End file.
